Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 889,250 Shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. has increased its stake in Plymouth Industrial REIT by 24.5%, owning approximately 9.92% of the company with a total value of $73.68 million.
• Plymouth Industrial REIT has a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with an average target price set at $20.44.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, representing an annual yield of 6.6%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,520,361 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 889,250 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 9.92% of Plymouth Industrial REIT worth $73,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PLYM. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT during the 4th quarter worth about $10,433,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,612,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,199,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT by 56.7% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 549,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,963,000 after acquiring an additional 198,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Plymouth Industrial REIT by 120.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 151,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,701,000 after acquiring an additional 82,965 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLYM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Plymouth Industrial REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush raised Plymouth Industrial REIT to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Plymouth Industrial REIT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.44.

Plymouth Industrial REIT Stock Performance

PLYM traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 460,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,622. The stock has a market cap of $642.63 million, a P/E ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Plymouth Industrial REIT has a twelve month low of $12.70 and a twelve month high of $24.70.

Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Plymouth Industrial REIT had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 67.77%. The company had revenue of $47.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.20 million. Research analysts expect that Plymouth Industrial REIT will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Plymouth Industrial REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Plymouth Industrial REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Plymouth Industrial REIT Profile

Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc NYSE: PLYM is a full service, vertically integrated real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties. Our mission is to provide tenants with cost effective space that is functional, flexible and safe.